Opening Schedule for 2025 - 2026 Deployment

[BeachGal]

16 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

I perused that CC thread and had to look up Lelepa. Wow! I admit, i didn't see the market for that in that area but looks amazing. 

Agreed!!

[Atlantix2000]

3 hours ago, SweetPea said:

I perused that CC thread and had to look up Lelepa. Wow! I admit, i didn't see the market for that in that area but looks amazing. 

Did this post end up in the wrong thread?  I don't see any references to CC or Lelepa.

[SweetPea]

2 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Did this post end up in the wrong thread?  I don't see any references to CC or Lelepa.

No, in Matt's link to his article on this, he links to the CC thread where the TA states where each ship should be. If you read a page or two further in the CC thread Matt references, you will see talk of Lelepa there. 

[Geezer Of The Seas]

I just regained consciousness after opening the "100 Days til Icon" email this morning. I passed out when I tapped the "book now" button and started reviewing itineraries and pricing (most of what I viewed were 2025 sailing dates) 

Looks like they want to pay off the debt on the ship in one year.......................

Cute email though, with Icon zipping back and forth as you scrolled down.

[F1guynz]

5 hours ago, SweetPea said:

I perused that CC thread and had to look up Lelepa. Wow! I admit, i didn't see the market for that in that area but looks amazing. 

They haven't started building it yet so we will have to wait and see what we get.

[Chili]

6 hours ago, SweetPea said:

I perused that CC thread and had to look up Lelepa. Wow! I admit, i didn't see the market for that in that area but looks amazing. 

I can’t see the market for a private island either. Not in the form Royal was advertising.
3-5 ships serving it for 6 months of the year doesn’t warrant the money to me.

[Pattycruise]

9 hours ago, fireclan said:

You can purchase your Next Cruise Open Booking/certificate in the app while you're on board. No need to schedule an appointment or go to the desk.

Just be careful if you don’t want an existing TA for the sailing you purchase next cruise open booking to have your new booking.  The app does not have an option to remove existing TA when purchasing your open booking.

[Hoppy2BHere]

This may be random and may have come up in other posts, but just noticing in the second graphic posted that Utopia shows 1100-1300 less passengers than the other Oasis class ships.. Is this a typo? Or something to look forward to?

J&S

[Chili]

53 minutes ago, Hoppy2BHere said:

This may be random and may have come up in other posts, but just noticing in the second graphic posted that Utopia shows 1100-1300 less passengers than the other Oasis class ships.. Is this a typo? Or something to look forward to?

J&S

I think it has less public space because of the size of the L.N.G. fuel tanks.

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, Hoppy2BHere said:

This may be random and may have come up in other posts, but just noticing in the second graphic posted that Utopia shows 1100-1300 less passengers than the other Oasis class ships.. Is this a typo? Or something to look forward to?

J&S

It's a typo. It shows double occupancy while the other ships have their total occupancy listed.

[mattymay]

On 10/19/2023 at 10:05 PM, FionaMG said:

There are a few Alaska sailings online now for summer 2025. Although it's a bit early, this must be a test load ahead of the scheduled release at the end of the month. These are the ones I'm seeing at the moment.

 

Interesting, looks like Ovation might be replaced with Anthem in Australia for the 25/26 then.

[FionaMG]

8 hours ago, mattymay said:

Interesting, looks like Ovation might be replaced with Anthem in Australia for the 25/26 then.

I have no idea about the plans for Ovation but when I was on Anthem back in April and asked about upcoming itineraries at Captain's Corner, he said that Anthem would be relocating from Europe to Singapore at the end of the European season 2024 (those repos are already on sale), doing some cruises from Singapore (I'm fairly sure those are already on sale too but can't double check as the system is down for maintenance) and dry-docking. From there she is supposed to go to Australia and Alaska but I don't know what the schedules will be for those itineraries. I'm not sure how they would fit in (m)any Australia sailings between Singapore and Alaska in the March/April 2025 time frame but, following the summer 2025 Alaska season, relocation to Australia would seem very possible.

[Chili]

21 hours ago, mattymay said:

Interesting, looks like Ovation might be replaced with Anthem in Australia for the 25/26 then.

Over on CC  there’s a hint, Anthem might go to Los Angeles after its Alaska deployment.

In the schedules to be released, it’s included in Caribbean / L.A .

If that’s the case we might get Navigator ?

[teddy]

On 10/19/2023 at 1:25 PM, FionaMG said:

You can book it at Next Cruise. Just ask them for an open booking. It's the same reduced deposit and then you can convert it to the specific sailing of your choice once they're released.

If you've booked your current cruise with a travel agent, the open booking will be assigned to them, so you just have to get in touch with them to let them know what sailing to convert it to. If you booked direct with Royal then you just have to call them when you've picked your specific sailing.

And you'll still get your OBC as long as you pick your sailing within 60 days of booking.

Done.  Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[FionaMG]

3 minutes ago, teddy said:

Done.  Thank you for the suggestion.

 

My pleasure. Delighted to have been of assistance.

[AndyPandy]

So it’s rumoured that the Independence is back to U.K. from summer 2025 and the U.K. looses the Anthem. 
 

Why is RCCL downgrading the U.K. cruise market when other lines are sending improved ships?

[AlmondFarmer]

10 minutes ago, AndyPandy said:

So it’s rumoured that the Independence is back to U.K. from summer 2025 and the U.K. looses the Anthem. 
 

Why is RCCL downgrading the U.K. cruise market when other lines are sending improved ships?

Considering this a downgrade is subjective. Older ship, yes. Different offerings, yes. Those who have sailed on Anthem out of Southampton already, might appreciate a different offering. 
I for one am happy Royal rotates ships (Oasis class ship in Western Mediterranean another example) as it allows one to sail from same port, similar or same itinerary, but different shows and activities on board. 

[AndyPandy]

41 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Considering this a downgrade is subjective. Older ship, yes. Different offerings, yes. Those who have sailed on Anthem out of Southampton already, might appreciate a different offering. 
I for one am happy Royal rotates ships (Oasis class ship in Western Mediterranean another example) as it allows one to sail from same port, similar or same itinerary, but different shows and activities on board. 

I agree it’s own perception, but, I have sailed both.

AOTS has an inside pool and solarium, we sailed to Norway this year the weather was fantastic, but, I would say 95% of people on the top decks were in the inside pool area or solarium. Only outside tubs in use. IOTS we sailed Southampton to the Mediterranean and back, the first two and last days were bad over the Bay of Biscay and we arrived late in Gibraltar by hours. It was cold on deck those days. So sailing from Southampton is a lottery until you go further south.

AOTS had We will rock you as entertainment, but the shows imho was poor on IOTS with a poor cruise director.

The speciality restaurants were far better on AOTS.

Our ship was nearly all British and full to 4K plus passengers, sailing Norway, so I do think getting a 15yo ship instead of say 6yo ship is a massive downgrade and clearly  shows RCCL do not value the U.K. market? My views, from sailing both.

Plus I think just one 12 night itinerary and most 7-9 which again is a reduction on choice in 2023/2024. When RCCL have new ships to hand, yes the newest will always sail in US as it’s most. Competitive there, but do not downgrade the U.K. market when they can give something equal or better.

Orher lines, say Disney, upgraded European sailings with a bigger and newer ship from this year, with rumours of another swap in 2025. 

[Rackham]

4 hours ago, AndyPandy said:

So it’s rumoured that the Independence is back to U.K. from summer 2025 and the U.K. looses the Anthem. 
 

Why is RCCL downgrading the U.K. cruise market when other lines are sending improved ships?

Until the sailings are actually released, I wouldn't put too much stock in rumors. Once cruises are available for booking, then there's something actually to chew on (or not).

[AndyPandy]

4 minutes ago, Rackham said:

Until the sailings are actually released, I wouldn't put too much stock in rumors. Once cruises are available for booking, then there's something actually to chew on (or not).

 

[cedricmr]

Thanks @AndyPandy

Finally, it's not Odyssey. Do you know what ship will be in Amsterdam ?

[AndyPandy]

7 minutes ago, cedricmr said:

Thanks @AndyPandy

Finally, it's not Odyssey. Do you know what ship will be in Amsterdam ?

Not yet, you probably will know this Wednesday 

[smokeybandit]

That Northern Cities Escape looks tempting if the price is right.

[Thom Cruise]

7 hours ago, AndyPandy said:

I agree it’s own perception, but, I have sailed both.

AOTS has an inside pool and solarium, we sailed to Norway this year the weather was fantastic, but, I would say 95% of people on the top decks were in the inside pool area or solarium. Only outside tubs in use. IOTS we sailed Southampton to the Mediterranean and back, the first two and last days were bad over the Bay of Biscay and we arrived late in Gibraltar by hours. It was cold on deck those days. So sailing from Southampton is a lottery until you go further south.

AOTS had We will rock you as entertainment, but the shows imho was poor on IOTS with a poor cruise director.

The speciality restaurants were far better on AOTS.

Our ship was nearly all British and full to 4K plus passengers, sailing Norway, so I do think getting a 15yo ship instead of say 6yo ship is a massive downgrade and clearly  shows RCCL do not value the U.K. market? My views, from sailing both.

Plus I think just one 12 night itinerary and most 7-9 which again is a reduction on choice in 2023/2024. When RCCL have new ships to hand, yes the newest will always sail in US as it’s most. Competitive there, but do not downgrade the U.K. market when they can give something equal or better.

Orher lines, say Disney, upgraded European sailings with a bigger and newer ship from this year, with rumours of another swap in 2025. 

Totally agree. 

Indy seemed a great ship for the UK 10 years ago.  It seems cruel to give us a Quantum Class and then return to Freedom Class. 

I wouldn't mind as much if the price reflected the drop in standard, but it won't, it'll just rise again. 

[Jill]

7 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

That Northern Cities Escape looks tempting if the price is right.

What’s that itinerary? 

[Jill]

8 hours ago, cedricmr said:

Thanks @AndyPandy

Finally, it's not Odyssey. Do you know what ship will be in Amsterdam ?

Looking at Amsterdam port schedule, it’ll be Brilliance. Won’t let me copy link. Go here: cruiseportamsterdam.com 

 

 

[smokeybandit]

35 minutes ago, Jill said:

What’s that itinerary? 

https://hayscruise.co.uk/deals/northern-city-escapes-independence-of-the-seas

[SMOKEY0202]

Getting prepared for the high rates once Europe itineraries are released since Alaska release was definitely high

Brilliance outta Amsterdam would be better than another season of Jewel.

Looking for another Iceland or Ireland itinerary 

[Jill]

Anyone have any scoop on which celebrity ships will be out of UK, Amsterdam/Rotterdam? I do see Eclipse out of Amsterdam but not sure if that’s just a port stop or port of origin. 

[Doug_Texas]

On 10/16/2023 at 2:44 PM, OCSC Mike said:

We’ve only done it the one time and didn’t see it as a big deal. It’s a waste of a few hours but it went smoothly. And we do enjoy PDCC.

That said, I’d rather just be on a 7-nighter.

We have to add B2B or SBS bookings to 7-nighters because they are just too short.  Once I pack to cruise and go through the airline/airport gauntlet I really need to cruise.  Oh the troubles of retirement.

[Cactus527]

@AndyPandy where did you find that deployment schedule for Independence? I'd like to see if I can view a few other ships...

 

[smokeybandit]

33 minutes ago, Cactus527 said:

@AndyPandy where did you find that deployment schedule for Independence? I'd like to see if I can view a few other ships...

 

Try here. Just search for the ships we know are going to be in Europe

https://hayscruise.co.uk/cruise-lines/royal-caribbean-cruises

[smokeybandit]

European cruises are now available

[DavidB]

Any idea on when the Europe to North America sailings will be released?  Trying to decide which transatlantic to book.

[teddy]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

European cruises are now available

I looked as I was getting ready for work, and I think Europe is going to win out over Alaska for us.

We’re going to book when I get home from work this afternoon. The 9-night on independence intrigues us. 
 

edit:  We definitely decided to book the 9-night when the call center opens.  We have a Next Cruise open booking to use.  

[DJAus]

Unless there are more cruises to be released, then the Norway cruises are not many and not fantastic itineraries. No departures from any Northern European ports.

[DaveWithHat]

Is there any site that shows a list of itineraries by day for each ship. Looking at the Europe itineraries for Independence in 2025 there are 2, 3 and 5 night cruises and I am trying to make sense of how I could combine these into B2B

 

[Naderw23]

On another cruise with IOTS, we embarked on a journey from Southampton to the Mediterranean and back. Unfortunately, the first two and last days were marred by rough seas over the Bay of Biscay, resulting in a delayed arrival in Gibraltar by several hours. The weather was quite cold on the open decks during those days. It seems that when departing from Southampton, it's essentially like playing a weather lottery until you venture further south.

[cedricmr]

3 hours ago, DJAus said:

Unless there are more cruises to be released, then the Norway cruises are not many and not fantastic itineraries. No departures from any Northern European ports.

Norway wants to limit cruise ships.
Amsterdam wants to limit cruise ships.

[teddy]

7 hours ago, teddy said:

edit:  We definitely decided to book the 9-night when the call center opens.  We have a Next Cruise open booking to use

Done.

Independence round trip from Southampton to Spain and Portugal.  Corner “Sunset” Balcony on deck 7.  It shows up on the invoice as a “Spa Spacious Balcony”.  I don’t recall seeing this description before.  
 

When I spoke with the representative to do the actual booking, it was $75 cheaper than the price I saw online.